People value their privacy very much these days. You will never want a third person to look into your chats or search histories. Regulations like the GDPR and CCPA help individuals ensure their privacy. The aftermath of WhatsApp’s privacy policy update is yet another example of people’s concern towards their privacy.
WhatsApp had recently updated its terms of service and privacy policy for its users, which resulted in the spike of Signal users. Even though WhatsApp shares user data with its parent company Facebook since 2016, this could be the first time that the company is giving some clarity in this regard.
WhatsApp intended to inform its users of the change in their approach of user interaction with businesses. But instead of giving the users ample time to get familiarized with the policy updates, WhatsApp went ahead and fixed a deadline (February 8, 2021) to accept the updated policy.
Such an aggressive attitude resulted in people shifting to other instant messaging solutions like Signal and Telegram. Finally, WhatsApp had to extend the deadline to May 15, 2021, seeing such an outrage. Even though Signal and Telegram were already in the game, the new social situation helped them gain more popularity. Even Tesla CEO’s “use Signal” tweet, which literally urged people to use Signal, was misinterpreted. People started buying its shares that resulted in Signal’s shares increasing drastically in the next couple of days.
There was approximately 7.5 million Signal installs in both the App Store and Google Play, from January 6 till January 10. The installs were 43 times that of the installs from the previous week. Even though Signal saw a spike in its users, people never really lost their affinity towards WhatsApp. But the shift of traders in financial firms from WhatsApp to Signal has made it difficult for compliance managers to monitor the employees more than ever.
The use of IM applications for business communication was always a headache for compliance managers. From a time when IM applications like WhatsApp and WeChat were considered illegal for sharing potentially sensitive work-related data, traders are now in a situation where nothing works well without these applications.
While traders shifted from their traditional office work culture and moved to their homes, the use of IM applications also surged rapidly. In light of such new situations, regulatory agencies issued notices where they gave specific mention to these applications. Regulatory agencies remind financial firms about the firm’s obligation to monitor, record, and archive all trade-related conversations and calls through IM applications.
It has not been so long since regulators have allowed the use of IM applications for trade-related communications. Since then, compliance managers were on the run to find a viable surveillance option that could allow them the use of IM applications. WhatsApp and WeChat were the only players in the field when compliance teams started the race for a suitable archiving tool. But the arrival of Signal and Telegram has brought the firms back to square one. Now they are on the run to find a new tool that can record and archive the conversations in these new chat applications.
Two global banks and one Asian lender have already started monitoring the chats of their traders in Signal. These firms are using a tool that was developed by a Hong Kong-based surveillance software provider. In a statement given to an online financial news portal, the chief operating officer of the Hong Kong-based company stated that the trend has changed from WhatsApp to Signal. He also adds that it is difficult to foresee the trend six months from now.
The head of another UK-based surveillance software also confirms the trial run of their software for recording the conversations on Signal. The company has deployed the application on a trial-based approach with five of their financial service clients that include brokers and banks. But the demands from financial firms are less since it was their clients and not traders who migrated to Signal.
There are several ways of tracking conversations in a chat application. The application programming interface (API) for Signal is publicly available, allowing software developers to have programmatic access. Certain surveillance firms use this API to create an interface similar to the original application, where they can record all conversations.
Certain other surveillance firms adopt a different method of developing an exclusive messaging app service for the financial firms. This application acts as a recorded channel between the firm and multiple encrypted messaging apps on the client-side.
To be compliant with data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, all these recorded alternatives will inform the user with a disclaimer that the conversations are being recorded. The user will have a dedicated version of the chat application for performing their business-related conversations. Hence conversations through this application are only recorded. The user can safely continue to use the private version of the chat application for their personal use without having the fear of being recorded.
The surveillance companies ensure privacy not only to the trader but also to the financial firms. The surveillance company will not view the content of the conversations. These surveillance agencies also offer the option of setting restrictions in these applications so that the financial firms can decide what must be sent and what must not.
In another statement to the Financial News, a senior compliance manager had stated that even though a surveillance software is developed for a particular messaging application, there will always be another one to replace the existing one. Hence the situation is similar to chasing their tail for compliance managers.
But this cannot be considered a reason for not recording business conversations. If Signal is the new trend, then it is the discretion of the compliance team to ensure Signal compliance by adopting a Signal archiving tool for their business for a secure instant messaging experience.
In case a different chat application is being used tomorrow, then the financial firms must be dynamic to adopt an appropriate tool suiting their enterprise instant messaging requirements. The tool must be able to monitor phone calls and must also monitor text messages through the chat application while ensuring appropriate regulatory compliance.
About TeleMessage
TeleMessage captures and retains mobile content, including mobile SMS messages, voice calls, and WeChat conversations from corporate or BYOD mobile phones to ensure compliance with various data protection regulations. The messages are securely and reliably retained within TeleMessage servers or forwarded to your choice archiving data storage vendor.
Our mobile archiving products securely record content from mobile carriers and mobile devices for various ownership models (BYOD, CYOD, and employer-issued). With our multiple archiving solutions, you can always find the right tools or blend for your requirements:
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TeleMessage offers cross-carrier and international mobile text & calls archiving for corporate and BYOD phones. Visit our website at www.telemessage.com to learn more about our mobile archiving products.
